Emirates SkyCargo’s South American network expansion has led to double-digit percentage volume increases.
Earlier this year, the Dubai-based carrier added seven weekly freighter flights from the region, including three extra flights from Buenos Aires, two additional flights from Sao Paulo, one from Bogota and another from Quito.
Emirates SkyCargo said the additional flights had facilitated a “significant increase” in export volumes in the first half of the 2025/26 financial year, with Argentina growing by 57% year on year, Brazil by 22%, 18% from Colombia and 14% from Ecuador.
Badr Abbas, divisional senior vice president, Emirates SkyCargo, said: “South America is a dynamic emerging hub for exports across a range of sectors including high-quality food products and fresh flowers that rely on fast and reliable air cargo connectivity to reach global customers.
“Since April this year, we have transported more than 22,000 tonnes of export cargo from our South American markets, a growth of 18% over the volumes carried during the same period in the previous year.”
Drilling further into the increases, the carrier said that from Ecuador, the carrier was now flying six times a week and offering export capacity of around 600 tonnes.
The flights go directly from Quito to Amsterdam, which is host to one of the world’s largest flower markets.
Flowers account for more than 90% of all export cargo uplifted from Ecuador by Emirates SkyCargo. During the financial year 25/26 the cargo business transported nearly 24,000 tonnes of flowers.
Meanwhile, the carrier added a weekly freighter flight from Bogota in May and it has helped meet demand for flower exports.
“In Financial year 25/26, the carrier transported more than 3,500 tonnes of flowers from the country, supporting producers with reliable access to international markets,” Emirates said.
For Argentina, the carrier commenced weekly freighter operations from Buenos Aires in March and in July increased to three weekly freighter flights.
Since April 2024, Emirates SkyCargo has facilitated the movement of approximately 5,000 tonnes of exports from Argentina, including perishables such as fresh fruit, salmon and meat products.
Finally, for Brazil, Emirates SkyCargo now flies four times per week from Sao Paulo “supporting the movement of a broad range of commodities to destinations across its international network”.
The extra flights have been enabled by the expansion of the Emirates fleet. The cargo carrier has taken delivery of seven Boeing 777 production freighter aircraft since March 2026 as well as the first Boeing 777-300ERSF converted from an Emirates passenger aircraft.
By the end of March 2027, the carrier will operate a fleet of 23 dedicated freighter aircraft.
Globally, the air cargo carrier has expanded its global network of freighter destinations from just over 40 in March 2026 to over 60 by July 2026.
